Gate of Memories
by Seto's Darkness
Summary: Uzumaki Naruto, a part time student archaeologist. His latest discovery: a buried city known to exist 5000 years ago as Konohagakure. Along with it, Naruto finds a diary that once belonged to one traitor and lover, Uchiha Sasuke [SasuNaru YAOI]
1. Chapter 1: One Who Sleeps Doesn't Sin

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything. 

**Inspired by**: I got this idea while I was playing the game ZUMA. …What a weird timing for an inspiration :O This serves as my (belated) White Day offering for SasuNaru :) Much thanks to ALL the people I bothered to look over this thing! Especially xHydromaniacx, Gonrie, WingIt, StarsOfYaoi, and of course, my beta, **Crick118**!

**Warning**: SasuNaru, **yaoi**, shounen-ai, weirdness (?), OOC (?), some fluff :D heavy **AU**. Rated **M** for safety :D This chapter is rather intensive on explanations, so yeah… More notes below, thanks :) And yes, there will be a **happy ending** here, even if Sasuke is a "ghost".

* * *

"Uzumaki-san! Uzumaki-san!" A young woman, Hinamori, called out, waving her hands frantically to get the blond's attention. 

Uzumaki Naruto, nineteen, first year university student, looked up from the bunch of scrolls and papers that were stacked messily on their camp's area. He quickly summoned a bright smile for the approaching Hinamori.

"Ah, what is it, Hinamori-chan?" He asked gently, though his blue eyes weren't really focused on the girl standing in front of him, panting slightly to catch her breath. Beads of sweat formed on her pale forehead, as the forest's humidity embraced the surroundings tightly.

"Shiro-chan and Iruka-sensei have confirmed it," Here, Hinamori paused for a brief moment; Naruto took the moment to remember that 'Shiro-chan' referred to Hitsugaya, the snobbish prodigy that happened to be Hinamori's childhood friend. "…We've found the entrance to the underground city!"

The blond was a person filled with expressions, and he immediately held Hinamori by her shoulders, eyes bright and finally focused at her. Finally! The five years of hard work by Iruka-sensei and his fellow researchers and archaeologists finally paid off!

Though Naruto was only at the site for two months, he had grown to be fond of Iruka-sensei's research. He was happy-beyond-words about this revelation. Without missing a beat, the blond informed the nearby groups about the discovery.

Finally, they uncovered the underground city: Konohagakure!

* * *

**Gate of Memories**

-- Sasuke x Naruto fanfic --

* * *

Naruto isn't a model student. 

He isn't a member of the Student Council, he isn't a class representative, he isn't a captain of any sports club (though he is a regular member of the tennis and basketball clubs), and he isn't a straight-A student.

Naruto, however, possessed some very important 'people-skills' that top-notch students like Hyuuga Neji (one of the applicants in this internship-of-sorts) lacked. It was one of the reasons why Professor Umino Iruka chose Naruto as one of the summer students that would help him in his most important project.

The cheerful blond also lacked the term 'giving up' in his dictionary—something that Iruka's project needed. It was critical to have the faith in the discovery, in the existence of the underground city.

The team members also needed to go on, to keep on searching for clues, for signs, for evidences, about Konoha's existence. Naruto fulfilled all those requirements, which was why Iruka chose him, despite him being only a first-year with mediocre grades and slightly-tarnished school record.

Plus, Naruto is his favorite student, no matter what.

Iruka was thankful for this moment, as he peered down into the earth-smelling stairs. Naruto and the other team members hovered above the just-unearthed passage to the supposed underground city.

"Are you ready?" Iruka asked; his usual warm voice now filled with shaky anticipation and firm determination.

Iruka heaved a deep breath, and took a heavy step forward, one step towards the deep earth of the underground stairs.

* * *

Naruto held back the urge to put his hand over his nose for the fiftieth time. The passageway was damp and smelled of earth and _dirt_, and the flame inside his torch was flickering madly, like a man gasping for breath. 

They were walking down the underground tunnel for the past twenty minutes, but Naruto couldn't see anything special. Rather, he couldn't see any_thing_ at all, save for the brief images of Hitsugaya's silver hair in front of him, and for his fingers that carefully held the torch.

Sounds of footsteps and breathing echoed hollowly inside the soil-made walls. If Naruto strained his ears enough, he would be able to hear the sounds of the other workers from further behind them, marking the path and slowly chipping the entrance open, letting more oxygen inside.

With a slight hiss, the flame that danced inside Naruto's small torch died, enveloping the blond in complete darkness. Azure-colored eyes tried to seek out the people in front of him, but apparently, all their torches and candles died at the same time. It meant that the passageway was a lot deeper now and a lot narrower as well, and Naruto cautiously reached out for the flashlight that was shoved inside his pants' pocket.

A brief flash of thought filtered inside Naruto's mind; they should have used flashlights from the beginning, right? Why use candles, if the flames were going to die anyway? His line-of-thought was pretty reasonable, but Naruto couldn't see the silver hair in front of him anymore, so he hurried to catch up to the others.

He finally caught up to Hitsugaya and Iruka-sensei, but they were staring, open-mouthed, at the sight before them. Naruto easily weaved his way to the front, in order to see what caused the normally-calm people to just gape like that.

Yet, the sight also left Uzumaki Naruto, dead-last, class-clown and loudest-person-in-class to simply stare, utterly speechless.

There, below the cliff they were standing on, stood the beautiful, perfectly-preserved underground city of the Village of the Hidden Leaf.

* * *

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! 

Pictures were taken shamelessly, as reporters scurried to take shots of the wonderful, ancient city that Umino Iruka's team just discovered. Scientists, archaeologists, geologists, and other researchers, buzzed around the huge city excitedly—taking samples, testing for radioactive dating, comparing theories about the city.

Uzumaki Naruto nodded to the shy Hinamori standing beside him. She was awfully quiet, especially now that Hitsugaya was off terrorizing some workers about handling the artifacts to the office. Silently standing beside the ebony-haired girl became quickly boring for the normally-loud blond, so his eyes easily wandered around the ancient structures of Konohagakure.

It was strange, Naruto decided, very strange. While the passageway to the city was soil-y and smelled like _earth_, the city didn't smell like that at all. Instead, it felt like the city wasn't underground; like it was still _alive_ and on top.

"Naruto!" Iruka-sensei called excitedly to him, sharing things about companies that would willingly grant their research group money if they could unravel more facts about this 'miraculous discovery', as dubbed by the reporters.

The blond nodded at his teacher's instructions about observing things, about collecting data—like, why was this city underground? Why was the city preserved this _perfectly_? Why didn't it smell like the disgusting mixture of worms and soil?

The blond waved goodbye at Hinamori, before he proceeded to walk around the old town.

He touched the structures of the houses. Very strange. The walls felt like concrete—wait, did they even have concrete 500 years ago?

The houses' structures were also very modern—not the skyscrapers type, but it felt like a normal residential area in a modern city. Did that mean that Konohagakure was _way_ advanced in its technology?

Also, his fingers didn't meet piles of dust and dirt. It felt like there was a wind constantly blowing around the city, routinely dislodging any dust that might accumulate too much.

It was really very strange, and Naruto kept mental tabs on those observations. He doubted most of them would notice those things; everybody was rejoicing about the success of their discovery, and they probably would have closed their minds to things that could possibly ruin the image of an ancient underground city.

Underground cities nowadays are used to link different commercial buildings, shopping centers and MRT stations. This particular underground city, however, as Iruka-sensei and his superiors' research believed in, was from an ancient civilization that lived 500 years ago, in the land that is now submerged between the Japan and China.

According to the mountains of texts that Iruka's team studied, the area they discovered just now belonged to a larger domain named Fire Country. From what Naruto heard from the fellow members of the excavation team, this place was once called Konohagakure—The Village of Hidden Leaf.

_Hidden leaf… leaf… leaf… _

The name rung a bell inside the blond's mind, like a lonely signal that echoed recognition.

Naruto stopped walking as soon as he stumbled over a series of steps. His eyes followed the clean-looking stairs, which led to a grand-looking house. It looked like it once belonged to an illustrious family, since the house's designs were intricate, and the garden surrounding it was huge.

Naruto already saw a lot of unexpected things in this excavation, but he certainly didn't expect to find a well-kept garden, something that he only saw at entrancing magazines and gigantic estates.

…A garden…?

Naruto cautiously peered to the side of the mansion. There, in the middle of the garden, stood a tree. An old-looking tree, with a thick, sturdy trunk, and a healthy crown of green leaves.

Green leaves.

_The tree is alive_, Naruto realized, as million other thoughts filtered in inside his mind, _the tree is alive!_

"But…" The blond murmured to the air in front of him, "…that's impossible, right?"

He whirled around, as a passing breeze curled around his exposed neck. Naruto visibly shivered as he analyzed the facts inside his head.

This is an underground city—buried in a cave-like structure. Naruto knew that he wasn't a star-student, but he knew that trees need sunlight to live, damn it. And there's no sunlight here, since this is underground.

Naruto knew that there shouldn't be a breeze as strong as that either.

There was something terribly wrong with the picture, but Naruto couldn't wrap his mind about it.

Instead, as though somebody was controlling his limbs, Naruto turned back to the mansion. His head felt numb—maybe it was from thinking too much?—and his vision became blurry. He felt another strong breeze, and Naruto wanted to wrap his arms around himself to ward off the coldness, but he found out that he couldn't even lift his hands.

His thoughts felt distant, and it was like something, _somebody_, was submerging his hands into the jumble of coherent thoughts that he had; it was like somebody was purposely removing the links and blurring his consciousness altogether.

Naruto made one step closer to the mansion's doors. His step felt heavy, and he distantly remembered that nobody was nearby. He was alone in this portion of the underground city, and he was going to trespass into some ancient mansion.

He vaguely thought that he shouldn't be letting his body control itself. He tried to close his eyes, but they wouldn't move. His legs took another step closer to the doors. Naruto watched, with almost-inappropriate fascination, how his hands lifted, and how they pushed open the doors.

A tidy room greeted him, without a speck of dust in sight. The artificial light that the researchers installed around Konohagakure illuminated parts of the mansion's interiors. The mansion's living room only had the essential furniture and fixtures, but that wasn't what caught Naruto's attention.

The first thing that Naruto noticed was the design painted on the walls. It was in a shape of a fan -or a ping-pong paddle- and it was painted in hues of red and white. The symbol was painted on various things, and Naruto faintly wondered if it was a family crest.

The next thing that the blond noticed was the book that sat primly on top of the coffee table. Without his consent, Naruto felt his legs move towards the table; his fingertips burned with the feeling to _hold_ that book, as soon as possible.

Without further ado, Naruto sat on one of the couches, and held the book. The name 'Uchiha Sasuke' was printed in an elegant script on the bottom right-hand side of the cover.

Out of all the things that Naruto wanted to utter, to notice, to think about, his lips moved to form words that he found himself unable to resist calling out, using a voice that sounded _sad_, and so far away.

"…Found you…"

* * *

_Rushed footsteps resonated in the expanse of the Uchiha Estate. _

_Naruto knew that as a ninja, he should be stealthy, but he was in a hurry, because, damn it, Sai told him that Uchiha Sasuke was spotted near the West Gate thirty minutes ago. The blond ninja searched for the Hokage Tower first, since the most obvious explanation for the Uchiha's appearance was his mission to kill the Godaime._

_He wasn't there however, so Naruto made his way towards Sasuke's home._

Home_—The word felt funny against Naruto's lips, but to him, Sasuke's home would always be in Konoha, no matter what happened._

_He carelessly flung the door open, with the haze of moonlight creating shadows and illuminating the most unnecessary things._

_There was a distinct _chakra_ smell that made the Kyuubi growl and twitch inside the seal. Naruto placed a hand protectively over his navel, willing the fox to stay put and not interfere. Nobody should interfere with him and Sasuke._

_As Naruto made his way to Sasuke's bedroom, he distantly wondered when did he become so possessive over his best friend._

_With each step, the blond ninja felt closer, much closer, to the dark _chakra_ signature. …_Just a little more…

_Naruto seized the bedroom door handle. It felt cold, but the coldness was nothing to Naruto. He wanted Sasuke back. He wanted Sasuke back, no matter what._

_He'd do anything—anything—to get Sasuke back._

_"Sasuke!" He exclaimed, and true enough, the Uchiha was there, standing silently, his bathrobe-looking top blending in with the moonlight and his pale skin. Aside from his panting, Naruto couldn't hear any other sound._

_Sasuke turned around to regard him, with his eyes colored like the darkest blood. One of his hands had a notebook clutched in it, a notebook filled with thoughts and memories of a person that existed long ago, but is now replaced with a heartless avenger._

_"Naruto, huh?" Sasuke's tone was impassive, and it was way colder than the doorknob that the blond held a while ago. Heartless. Did Sasuke really succeed in killing all of his emotions? Naruto feared and longed for the answer._

_He didn't like it, but Sasuke was successfully –effortlessly- turning him into a longing mess of contradicting emotions._

_"…Sasuke," Naruto murmured, with his head bowed low, the reddish _chakra_ curling around him like the snakes that Sasuke now controlled, "…stay."_

_The Uchiha didn't answer, but Naruto knew._

_A part of Naruto's heart broke at the steely silence._

_"Sasuke, I'm going to take you back," Naruto knew that despite Sasuke's physical presence here in Konoha, his heart wasn't here—because, after all, his heart was already in that abyss of darkness, right? _

_Not here, not in Sound._

_Sasuke traded everything for power. For the power that now licked and crashed against the power of the Kyuubi that surrounded the determined blond._

_"I'm going to take you back, no matter what."_

* * *

A figure that easily blended against the shadows watched, as though fascinated, as the blond that he knew so well –a person which he knew better than anybody else- sat on the old, unused couch. 

He was a bit disappointed, though, to see that Naruto's eyes lacked its usual shine, as though he wasn't the Naruto from before.

His pale fist clenched by his sides. No, that can't be. This **has** to be that dimwitted blond. This has to be Naruto.

The expression on the blond's face was dazed, and the observer felt a stab of feeling through himself, as he took in the endearing look that Naruto sported at the moment. He felt a sense of satisfaction and relief, as he saw Naruto take the diary with him.

A familiar smirk twisted upon the other's lips—lips that existed since five hundred years ago.

"I've finally found you, _dobe_."

* * *

**To Be Continued**

The second-to-the-last scene **is** a flashback :D This one took roughly around two hours (minus the multiple chatting and bathroom and eating breaks) plus around 15 minutes of fiddling with the formatting and posting XD;; Guh, I'm becoming slower :O

Yes, I stole most of the OCs from other animes :P Nyahahaha. ZOMG is this another Ghost!Sasuke fic? Another reincarnation!fic?! Well, read and find out XD All I know is that, I haven't seen anything like this in all my years of reading and writing fanfics for different fandoms :D This is another plot!fic, but I promise that no matter what happens, Sasuke and Naruto would end up together in a happy ending XD

**OOC: **If Naruto was OOC (and/or weak/somber) in this chapter, that's because he hasn't interacted with Sasuke yet… and that's about to change very soon—like, next chapter :D** Credits: **Hinamori and Hitsugaya are from Bleach. The underground city idea was from FMA. The modern definition for an underground city can be found in Wikipedia.

**Next Chapter Teaser: **Sasuke frowned as he watched Naruto sleep. Even from this distance, the Uchiha could read the words formed by those lips, lips that were moving because of his dreams. "Why is he bound there… underground…" Sasuke turned away, shifting his gaze to his diary that rested in the bedside table. "The reason why I'm bound…" Sasuke murmured in the velvety voice that made dozens of girls swoon before, "is because you sealed me there, Naruto."

**Please review :)**


	2. Chapter 2: Only In Your Dreams

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything.

**Warning**: SasuNaru, **yaoi**, shounen-ai, weirdness (?), OOC (?), some fluff :Dheavy **AU**. Rated **M** for safety :D And yes, there will be a **happy ending** here, even if Sasuke is a "ghost". **Spoilers** for Karin and Suigetsu: not much, but yeah, they exist here :P But I did my best to not put too much spoilers. And this is more like end-of-series, so lots are speculations only XD **Not beta'd yet**, because I want to post this ASAP. Beta'd version would be posted soon.

**Notes**: Yes, I know that there's a lot of confusion ;) I'll try my best to answer your questions (if you're signed in; leave an email address), without giving away too much of the plot :D Thank you, as always, for taking time to read and review my works:)

Tons of reviewers also brought out good points that I missed in the prologue;; To avoid me wrecking havoc with ancient history, I'm going to change it from 500 to **5000** years ago :D The first chapter would also be accordingly re-edited :) Review replies to the reviews that came starting April 3 would be sent out a bit later :D

There are no words that could fully express how surprised and ecstatic I am to receive such a great number of reviews :) And with that, I hope you all enjoy this installment! ♥

* * *

"See you next week, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto called out enthusiastically to his still-working teacher, before making his way out of the staff room. 

It has been five days since they discovered the underground city, and Naruto was grateful that he was only a part-time archaeologist. There were too many questions, too impossible theories, too loose explanations, and too much problems that came along with their glorious discovery.

The relative ease of their deciphering of the texts, the strange source of lighting of the city, the area's state that doesn't reflect abandonment for 5000 years… There were too many things that didn't fit.

On his way back to his dorms, he almost bumped into a frantically-running Hinamori. She was carrying two paper bags filled with papers—research papers, most probably—towards Iruka-sensei's staff room.

The blond male let out a relieved sigh. He sure was thankful that he wouldn't be needed until next week. Sure, he loved archaeology—because he wouldn't accept this part-time student internship if he didn't have the interest—but there was something that didn't sit well inside his mind as he helped Iruka work out the puzzles of Konohagakure.

He hastily opened the door to his dorm, glad that Kiba wasn't there. There was a note posted on Naruto's desk, but the blond knew that it was probably Kiba staying over _again_ at Shino's room. The blond mused on it for a while—after all, Kiba is _always_ having projects and assignments that he needed to do in Shino's room; it was too unbelievable—but he was tired and he wanted to rest.

Kiba's affairs versus sleeping—sleeping wins with a hundred percent certainty.

Naruto flopped down on his bed, his face half-covered by his unfolded blanket, not bothering to change out of his clothes. He was suddenly feeling too tired, too weak, and—

The diary that he snatched from that regal-looking house in the underground city was placed on his bedside table. He reached out his hand to take it, because, after all, he wanted to read that one, but he was very busy for the past few days. His vision became blurred though, and his arm fell down limply to his bed.

He was just so tired—

His eyelids slid droopily shut, but before sleep completely embraced him, he could have sworn that he saw another person standing beside his bed—

A person with dark-colored hair and ebony-hued eyes.

* * *

**Gate of Memories - Chapter Two  
**

Only In Your Dreams

* * *

"Yo, Naruto!" Inuzuka Kiba hollered from across the cafeteria, while Naruto flashed him a bright grin, inviting him to eat lunch with their classmates. The blond was surrounded by his friends that claimed that they missed him –after all, that part-time at the dig site took much of his free time- and Naruto was busy telling stories about the underground city. 

Naruto looked happy, Kiba noticed, but that could probably be attributed to the fact that his long-time crush, Sakura was there, her full attention to the story about the underground city. A lot of attention has been paid to the group of archaeologists, but Kiba is not interested in those kinds of things, so he tuned them out.

Kiba suddenly noticed that the well-known genius-slacker, Nara Shikamaru, was there too, a few seats away from Naruto. He sat on Shikamaru's right (since Akimichi Chouji was already seated on the left) and poked the lazy genius. Shikamaru merely inclined his head in a vague gesture that he's paying attention.

"This dig stuff isn't too troublesome for you?" Kiba teased the guy. Surprisingly though, Shikamaru nodded his agreement, and muttered. "It _is_ interesting."

"Ch," Kiba muttered, eating lunch while tuning out Naruto's energetic storytelling, and the listeners' questions and sounds of awe.

"Naruto," An icy voice cut through the lunchtime conversation, and Kiba –and the others looked up- to see the infamous Hitsugaya Toushirou. He was the well-known child genius who's already on his final year of university, as well as leader of the Biology, Chemistry and History Clubs. He was also under the Advanced Program, so it's an on-going rumor that he's going to pursue Masters and Ph.D. right after graduation. Either way, being a child prodigy didn't make him much friendlier, so Kiba is glad that they're not classmates.

"Yes? What is it?" Naruto asked, and Kiba was a bit relieved that there was one person in the planet whose stoic façade doesn't fade when faced with Naruto.

"Iruka-sensei wants you in the faculty room in five minutes," With the message delivered, Hitsugaya already turned on his heel, and left the table. Some of the girls sighed at his 'coolness' –something that Kiba wanted to scoff at; so what if he's a genius?!- while the others looked a bit put-off by his terse behavior.

"Okay, guys, catch you later!" And Naruto was gone, leaving the table's occupants talking to each other about the popular excavation of an underground city.

* * *

He was simply talking to his classmates during one of his breaks. He was doing something normal, something that Uzumaki Naruto usually did. He didn't have too much friends, but he didn't have much enemies either. He was on okay terms with his classmates, so it felt natural for him to mingle with them while waiting for the next class. 

But it was on such a normal time, that he suddenly felt his muscles weakening. It was something like a chronic fatigue – he felt like he ran for ten hours, without water, without rest. He felt dizzy, disoriented, tired, lost—

He can barely keep his eyes open, he can barely see the worried faces of his classmates, he can barely hear their frantic calls for help—

"Naruto! Naruto! What's wrong?"  
"Uzumaki-san! Get a hold of yourself!"  
"Call the nurse! Fast!"  
"Oh my gosh, what happened?"  
"He suddenly collapsed… I think it's stress…"  
"But he was chatting with us –and he was so lively!- just a few seconds ago…"  
"Oh come on, let's just take him to the nurse's office!"  
"Be careful—don't drop him!"

Hands, voices, footsteps—

They were all blurring together, and Naruto didn't even feel the pain of falling backwards towards the cold, hard floor. His body felt like it was floating, yet it also felt like it was too heavy for him to move. He suddenly felt so, _so_ tired—

He couldn't feel if his eyes were open or not—it was all hazy, blurry, and he couldn't distinguish shapes from each other. They were all melting into a mass of worried voices and concerned eyes, and the hands were rough and hurried, and he was being moved towards somewhere—

'What's wrong with me?' He wanted to ask, but his lips wouldn't move. He wanted to raise his hand, to wipe his eyes, but he couldn't.

The lines and words were getting more jumbled, and all he could hear was the distant noise, of an existence—

'I feel ill,' He wanted to say, but the words were stuck in his throat. 'Help me,' He wanted to plead, but he doesn't know who to plead to.

"_Naruto_," A solid voice—one solid voice amongst the mess that he could perceive—

"_Naruto_," It repeated calling out his name, but there was no caring emotion in the tone.

He might have stretched his hand towards the source of that confident voice, but he wasn't sure. "_Naruto_," It repeated, and before the darkness of unconsciousness claimed him, Naruto could have sworn that he saw a pair of charcoal eyes staring back at him.

* * *

_"I will bind Sasuke to myself!"_

_It was one voice that was filled with too much hope and belief. He has passed many trials, but his one wish –his one true wish- of taking his best friend back hasn't been granted yet. Years have passed—with time like sand grains trickling down, escaping his tight hold._

_Sometimes, Uzumaki Naruto questions the world, or the night filled with clouds and stars, or sometimes the faded picture of Team Seven. Why is it, that no matter how much he wished for Sasuke to come back, no matter how much he fought with enemies, Sasuke was always out of his reach._

_This time is no different. _

_Sasuke might have overpowered Orochimaru, but the Akatsuki is also active in its plans. Akatsuki planned to either recruit the younger Uchiha, or kill him if he refused. Some of Orochimaru's loyal subjects –led by Kabuto- are now planning to lead Otogakure to a war. Rebellions against Konoha, wars sparked by Akatsuki, all of them taking the advantage of the confusion and betrayal._

_Now though, Konoha ninjas –led by the broken pieces of Team Seven- were able to capture two members of Sasuke's platoon. But instead of bringing hope to Naruto, the information they managed to extract from Karin and Suigetsu –about Sasuke's plans and movements- only brought a feeling of anxiety._

_"I will stop Sasuke! I will do that technique! I will bind him to myself!" Naruto repeated loudly, his voice already showing that tinge of desperation. He always thought, 'what should I do, to make Sasuke come back'. That question was always unanswered, but he never stopped believing, persevering, to get the answer._

_Even if the answer is something like this._

_"Do you know what consequences you must pay?" It was Karin's voice. Of course, Naruto knew. Of course, they knew. The binding technique – it was a forbidden technique, for a reason. Jiraiya knew that by suggesting that technique, it secured the fact that Naruto would try to use that. Tsunade wanted to stop the blond, but she knew that it was of no use._

_If they tried to stop Naruto now, Naruto would only sneak in the Forbidden Scrolls Library, and then practice the technique. It was better that they allowed him now; at least, they could supervise his actions._

_"But, Naruto…" Jiraiya interrupted the grim silence of the room. His brown eyes were only focused on his sometimes-student, not on the other members of the Rookie Nine, not on the older batch of ninjas, not on the ANBU stationed around the room. "You can't bind Sasuke, since the cursed seal has already bound Sasuke to Orochimaru."_

_Naruto's eyes were hard, determined. "But…" _

_"And since Orochimaru is dead…" Kakashi spoke up, his tone wise but his eyes troubled. "Nobody can undo that bind."_

_"But, I can do that if…" Naruto started, but Jiraiya was already shaking his head._

_"Either way, you can't do anything if you can't locate Sasuke." The Sannin reasonably said, his voice above the whispers of the ninjas to each other, and the heartbroken tears shed by Sakura._

_Naruto took a deep breath, and fixed the glasses-wearing female with a long, pleading gaze._

_"Will you help me find Sasuke?"_

* * *

Bright light prodded at his eyelids, and with that, Uzumaki Naruto opened his eyes. He flinched a bit at the sudden brightness, but it seemed that it was only the light from the setting sun. He looked down at his bedridden form –pools of white sheets covered his whole body. He switched his gaze to his right, and he almost gasped from shock at seeing the girl of his dreams, Sakura, seated there. 

"Oh, you're awake, brat," The familiar voice of the school nurse, Tsunade, filtered into the room. Naruto sat up slowly, and true enough, Tsunade was there, wearing that skimpy outfit that was way too _young_ for her age. But Naruto still felt a bit dizzy, so he didn't voice that thought out loud. He didn't want the old hag to give him one of those powerful punches that she was prone to giving when angered.

"Tsunade-sama, I'll bring these medical forms to the Student Council President," Sakura said hurriedly, quickly gathering the files into her hands and bowing respectfully to her boss (she's working part-time as an assistant in the clinic) before leaving the room. Naruto has always been bewildered how granny Tsunade managed to fool Sakura-chan into thinking that she's a respectable boss. Maybe because Sakura-chan is afraid of those punches too? Or—

His thoughts were interrupted when Tsunade coughed loudly to get his attention. The blonde sat on the edge of the hospital bed, fixing Naruto –a person that she's really fond of- a worried stare.

"I wasn't able to find anything wrong with you," Tsunade admitted, her pride as the best doctor in Japan (well, when she was in her prime) a bit wounded that she couldn't find out the cause for the fainting and the almost-too-much fatigue.

Naruto wanted to say that he's fine, but he really felt very tired. Like his muscles were decaying or something—scratch that, like his whole body was decaying. Like they were starting to grow powerless to move. Like—

"I suggest that you go to a hospital, for a full body check-up," Tsunade suggested, though it wasn't really a suggestion. It was an order. _To be safe_ – those were unspoken words that hung in the air between them.

Naruto smiled, glad that he had such concerned people around him.

This feeling of happiness that someone is concerned about him—it's normal, right? It's normal to want his friends worry about him, it's normal to want his crush to look at him, it's normal to want your dreams come true, it's normal to be want to be acknowledged—

_Acknowledge… I only want one person to acknowledge me—_

_Sasuke—!_

"Are you alright?" Tsunade's face was only a few centimeters away, her hand holding a flashlight to his eye, checking for anything wrong.

Naruto realized that he was gasping for air, and his palms were sweaty. His heartbeat was racing, and he could feel a dull throb of pain inside his head. "I… feel sick." He admitted with a resigned sigh, a bit grateful that his heartbeat is returning to a normal pace.

"…You should go to the clinic tomorrow. I'll send the excuse slip to your teacher," Tsunade offered, moving away from the patient and making notes in her clipboard. The blond nodded, his mind going in circles, trying to figure out why that train of thought about normality dissolved into something so painful that he practically had a heart attack thinking about it. It was strange.

"…Granny…" Naruto silently said, his eyes troubled and tired. "Don't tell Iruka-sensei about this."

It was a request to not make Iruka –a certified mother hen- worry about him.

Tsunade nodded, and turned back to write words on the excuse slip for tomorrow.

This day has been normal—

But this… the fainting spell, the sudden fatigue, the fleeting paralysis, the strange vision… this isn't normal at all.

It seems that normality is a fickle thing, after all.

* * *

Sasuke was standing beside the bed where Uzumaki Naruto was sleeping. 

Surprisingly, the blond was not snoring, and he looked rather troubled as he slept. The Uchiha sat on the bed covered with white sheets. He cursed loudly as he failed to _feel_ the sensation of sitting down. He poked the blankets with his slender finger, and wasn't surprised to see that his finger went _through_ the blanket, and still failed to feel anything.

He wanted to have a solid body back—because only a solid body would be able to inflict damage on his enemies. He was a bit grateful that he managed to be able to get out of his prison for 5000 years. But he still really wanted his body back. He worked hard to prevent his body being overtaken by Orochimaru, and years later, Naruto sealed his body. It was ironic really, but Sasuke was tired of ironies.

"We all have dreams, don't we, Naruto?" His voice sounded dark and filled with contempt. But only he could hear it, because Naruto –the one from 5000 years ago- probably sealed him in some new dimension or something. A new dimension that his Mangekyou couldn't control.

"I have a dream too," He said, feeling angry that Naruto couldn't hear his words. "The sole purpose of my life is to kill Itachi. It was just one dream." Sasuke's hands were shaking with barely-controlled anger. Naruto turned in his sleep, his brows furrowed.

"Why then, must you always try to suppress my dreams?! Don't my dreams deserve chances too?! Why must your dreams always come true while mine remains in vain?! Why, Naruto?!"

Those words… didn't reach Naruto.

He has always been confident that he was ahead of the blond, but Naruto was always quick to catch up. This time, Sasuke grudgingly admitted that Naruto managed to successfully trap him and stop his movements.

Those lips curled into a satisfied smirk. But that would change soon. Once his body was returned, he would be able to spy on this Naruto to learn of the past Naruto's memories of sealing him. And he can undo the seal—and he can be free—free to do anything—free to go back to his time and kill Itachi.

"I will fulfill my dreams in the end," Sasuke declared into the room, the setting sun's rays passing right through him and straight to Naruto's resting form.

"And after I kill Itachi… I can… I can…" He didn't finish his sentence, but it didn't matter, because no one could hear.

Because nobody would be able to hear the name of his ex-teammate spill from his lips.

"_Naruto_…"

And black melted to red, and the wheels inside those red, red eyes started to turn.

* * *

"Haa!" Naruto gasped loudly, jolting awake with a violent kick to his blankets. There was a sound of hurried footsteps, most probably from Tsunade. His blue eyes were wide, dilated, and frantically looking for _something_, something that he knew that he should see. There was nobody inside the room, and the sun's rays were colored dark orange. 

It was getting late. But he still felt too tired to go home. After the rush of urgency when he woke up, he felt _fatigued _again.

"Naruto! What happened? Your blood pressure and heart rate are climbing—" Tsunade frantically said, but the words started to smash together and jumble into things that didn't make much sense.

He lifted a hand towards the ceiling—

"I see…" His voice sounded distant, and Tsunade was already calling for the hospital. She might be overreacting, but Naruto was already showing signs of hallucination—

"I see… red clouds…"

* * *

"This is the place, right, Itachi-san?" Kisame asked his partner, who was also hidden by the shadows of the tall buildings in the busy street of modern-day Japan. 

"That's correct," Itachi confirmed, red eyes focused on the gates of the university. This is the university whose archaeology team led the excavation of the underground city.

"Are we going to take him already?" The two of them didn't gather any attention from the hurrying passersby. It suited Itachi fine, because he didn't want to waste time killing the people who might see them. Red eyes fixed a sideways-glance at his partner's figure. They would have to do something about Kisame—there's no doubt that shark-looking people didn't exist in this era.

"No," Itachi said, "We need to locate Sasuke first."

Kisame grunted his agreement.

And as silently as they arrived, they disappeared, melting into the shadows that enveloped the two of them.

* * *

The doctor already sent him home after a few tests, telling him that his sudden onset of fatigue was just a result of too much stress. 

He already slept quite a lot of hours earlier, so he was having some difficulty falling asleep. He sat in his bed, a small bedside lamp being the only light source in the tiny room. He spotted the diary that he took from the underground city. He gingerly picked up, telling himself that maybe reading the diary would be able to make him fall asleep.

He browsed through the first few pages of the diary, not noticing that the words were written in modern Japanese—which wasn't present yet 5000 years ago. He noticed that this wasn't a diary—not in the strictest sense—but this was more like an organizer. Naruto decided that the person must be really a freak about arranging his tasks, or something.

_(1) _

_Kabuto showed me around the place, telling me to not go to the areas near the weaponry stock, or the laboratories. Che, I'm sure that when the time comes, Orochimaru would be the one to lead me to those places. _

_Kabuto gave me a room that was even larger than the one I had back then at the Uchiha Estates. There was a rock formation on the other end of headquarters. That would be a good place to practice my Chidori. I guess Orochimaru really thought this through._

Naruto frowned. Kabuto? Orochimaru? Chidori? Huh? Maybe he was really right. Reading this diary would be good for his sleep—it was so confusing that his head hurts so much. The handwriting was clean, with precise strokes. The person seemed to really know what he wanted to put in this thing.

_(2) _

_It has been roughly a year since I came here. There was considerable improvement—I was right to come here. Forbidden techniques were Orochimaru's forte, and those things wouldn't be known to me if I stayed at Konoha. Orochimaru commented that I should –sometimes- call him 'Orochimaru-sama', like his other underlings. I know that he already knows the answer. He is irritating that way. _

_He introduced me to one of his stronger subordinates. I think her name is Karin. She is much more pleasant than the other females, but she is also flirting with me. But oh well. Her ability was very unique –she was the only one who has it- and I already know that she will be of good use to me. She has strong ninjutsu and genjutsu techniques. She might not have monstrous strength as the Godaime, but she would do. I proposed an agreement between us—she would help me, and I would restart the Uchiha Clan with her. She agreed of course. _

_Ch. Predictable._

"This guy sure is arrogant," Naruto protested with a huff, but despite that, his eyes were riveted on the pages. It felt like there was some part of him that _needed_ to read the entire diary…

_(3) _

_I am close to modifying my _chakra_ forms. The Chidori Current is almost completed. That would add another element under my control. After this, I would learn some more of the ninjutsu that I gathered from Orochimaru's research. And create a more damaging variation of the Grand Fireball Technique._

_(4) _

_Orochimaru gave me my new clothes, along with the Kusanagi. I hate the clothes, but they're just clothes. In a fight, those would most likely get torn, anyway. And clothes wouldn't give me an extra advantage in a fight. …The sleeves are large. I guess they would be good places to hide the summoned snakes, but I still think that the robe looks ugly._

In the next entry, Naruto noticed that the handwriting was a little more rigid, a little more forced. It was like the writer was irritated at something.

_(5) _

_Naruto's team managed to enter the base. A guy that I suppose was supposed to replace me blew up my bedroom. Sakura was stronger now, but I still think that Karin is much stronger than her. In the end, all Sakura has is her excellent _chakra_ control; she doesn't have the techniques that would be useful to me. Naruto was still as naïve as usual, and the Kyuubi was—_

_I'm sure that Naruto was able to see the difference between us now, but I have a feeling that he wouldn't be stopping in his chase soon._

_He's not as innocent as before though_

There was a torn page, and Naruto wondered about the person who had the same name as himself. "Another Naruto, huh," The blond mumbled softly. He tried to find the missing page, but he came up with nothing. He decided to just move on to the next entry.

_(6) We already found Itachi's whereabouts. We'll attack tomorrow._

There was another change in handwriting, this time, with the lines jagged and rough. It looked like the writer is really pissed off, and Naruto wondered what could make the seemingly calculating and stoic person be this angry.

_(7) I'm stuck here in the Uchiha Estates. My body can't feel anything. I have no idea how to break this barrier keeping me here. I—_

Naruto wasn't able to read the words following that, because his eyes fell shut, and—

He dreamed of a world that he doesn't know about.

* * *

_"I'm betraying Sasuke by this doing this," Karin said mournfully, her stern stare willing Suigetsu to wake up in order to help her decide. The ex-Mist ninja was knocked out earlier when he tried to escape from the interrogation room. The large blade that once belonged to Zabuza was already in the ANBU's hands._

_She adjusted her glasses with a free hand. She stared back at Uzumaki Naruto. She recognized this person, an ex-teammate of Sasuke's. They had a couple of encounters with this guy over the years, with each encounter lasting from hours to days, and with each encounter leaving the blond yelling or unconscious, and Sasuke cranky as hell._

_She doesn't have enough information to deduce what exactly does this guy mean to Sasuke, but she can safely say that this Naruto has great effects on Sasuke. Not as much as his older brother, but enough to let Karin know that this isn't like the others._

_She likes Sasuke. True, she also has her motives, but she also likes Sasuke._

_"You like Sasuke too," She quietly murmured, in a voice that she was sure the blond didn't hear. Most probably, his like for Sasuke is greater than hers._

_She likes Sasuke. And she needs Sasuke to be alive for her plans to come true, after all._

_She took a deep, steadying breath, and she fixed her facial expression so that she looked caring, genuine, and convincing. "Fine, I'll locate him for you." She started. _

_"But—" She held up a warning hand. "I'm doing this not because I pity you. It's because I know that Sasuke wouldn't let go of that dark light in his eyes, even after he revives the Clan. Uzumaki Naruto, he needs your eyes to see the light."_

_The statement was cheesy, but she thinks that it was rational, true, and covers up her personal intentions. Suspicious glances were shot her way, probably because she agreed too easily. But those people don't matter. As long as Naruto believed her reason, and as long as Naruto kept Sasuke alive, all was good._

_"Thank you," Naruto genuinely said. Karin _almost_ felt bad for being… not so honest. But the feeling quickly passed, as she focused on locating Sasuke. This particular technique was the reason why she was chosen as a member of Sasuke's platoon. Yes, she has other techniques, and she is strong, but nobody else has this ability._

_However, her feelings of confidence dissolved, like the cascade of water down a slope._

_"…I located Sasuke," She said, but she sounded defeated._

_"…Sasuke… is already fighting Itachi at the moment."_

* * *

He stood at the tree branch positioned directly outside Naruto's bedroom. Sasuke frowned as he watched Naruto sleep. Even from this distance, the Uchiha could read the words formed by those lips, lips that were moving because of his dreams. Naruto was mumbling, words that wouldn't reach his consciousness, words that wouldn't reach his memories. "Why is he bound there… underground…" 

Sasuke turned away, shifting his gaze to his diary that rested near Naruto's hand. It seemed like Naruto fell asleep in the middle of reading his diary.

"The reason why I'm bound…" Sasuke murmured in the velvety voice that made dozens of girls swoon before, "is because you sealed me there, Naruto."

There was a tinge of bitterness in his cryptic message, and he lightly touched the bark of the tree he was standing on. He still couldn't feel anything –it was still unlike before- but he could _sense_ the presence of things already. Things were improving for him, which is a good sign.

The night was silent and sleeping, but he was there, cloaked in darkness. Sasuke was determined –not like the bursting determination that Naruto always displays, but determined in his own, I-will-do-anything way- to succeed.

Like before, there was nobody who heard his words.

"I have no idea what you planned to happen, but I'm going to take Naruto first."

* * *

**To Be Continued**

I think that there's not much info on Team Snake yet, especially on their personalities, so I'm hoping that this wouldn't be too OOC :D Oh, for those who don't follow the _manga_, Karin and Suigetsu are 2 of Sasuke's new lackeys :D

Nope, those are not all the diary entries. The entries would be scattered all throughout the story, so the story still looks a bit broken now :D

Also, I'm aware that I'm terribly behind in my updates (explanation is at my LJ). I don't mind if you all barrage me with 'darn, I hate you because you don't update', but please, no death/torture/maiming wishes :) A lot of people actually PM'd/emailed/reviewed me with those, and while I'm sure it's maddening that I don't update as often as I want/you want, but if I'm dead, then I can't update forever and EVAH, right? Right. That's all, thanks :)

**Inspiration**: A lot also tried to guess (and bribe me:P) about the future/ending of this fic;; the future chapters are still not completely finalized, but I think that knowing what mangas/things inspired this would help. Well, there's Bleach, FMA, X/1999, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, and Saiyuki ;)

**Next Chapter: **Sasuke gets his body and he's able to walk away from his 'prison' in the underground city. More diary entries, plus more plot XD Itachi and flashbacks, as well as the SasuNaru :D

**Previews: **

**(1) **Sasuke managed to hold back the urge to laugh maniacally. Finally, finally! He managed to re-solidify his body again. Sasuke sketched the sleeping Naruto's face with his fingers. He could feel the softness of the blond hair; he could feel the slight bumps across Naruto's not-as-flawless-as-a-girl's cheeks. His fingertips touched the edges of the plump-looking lips. Naruto's lips trembled slightly beneath the touch. Sasuke smirked, knowing that he can finally escape from his prison.

**(2) **"I didn't know that you can do that, Itachi-san," Kisame told his partner, amusement and respect filling his tone. Itachi nodded in acceptance of the unspoken praise. "I didn't want to just rely on the skills provided by the Mangekyou Sharingan," Itachi's voice was level, but there was that tiny twinge of bitterness that Kisame almost missed. "I improved the technique and added other jutsus, to create the ultimate eyes." Kisame remained silent, but he knew that Itachi knew of his unasked question. "With that technique I just used, I managed to fool Naruto-kun into thinking that he managed to save my foolish little brother."

**(3) **"That's a very cruel plan, Itachi-san," Kisame said, though he didn't have any plans of going against Itachi's plans. The Uchiha shook his head, his grayish-black bangs swaying with the motion. His mind focused to extend the time of the dimension he created, giving more time for his brother to adjust to that 'world'. "No. This would make Sasuke strong enough to be worthy of fighting me."

**Hope you liked it! **♥ **Reviews are love **♥


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